Blog posts tagged social media

If you’re setting up a new business, you will have a lot on your plate and certain things will naturally fall down your list of priorities simply because there isn’t enough time to do everything. It’s easy to consider your social media strategy non-essential, but actually, in this day and age, it can and perhaps should be a central aspect of your business.

It doesn’t much matter whether your business centres on selling to other firms or the general public, because social media can be vital in both spheres. It just needs to be approached in a different way.

Business to business

A 2012 study carried out by Business Network International (BNI) found that about three-quarters of business owners had been put off dealing with another business as a result of their use of social media. You might therefore think that the solution is to avoid it altogether, but that would be spurning opportunity through fear, which isn’t really what starting a business is all about.

BNI national director, Charlie Lawson, outlined some common problems seen in small firms’ social media output: “There are businesses that have the various social media profiles and accounts, yet no content; others that bombard with promotional messages; and a large proportion that don’t engage at all. These three strands are a combination of why SMEs are failing in their social media usage.”

You can see that while aggressive social media marketing tactics are considered a major problem, the other two criticisms in fact revolve around lack of social media engagement.

The key with social media is that it is about building relationships. This is why a solely sales-focused approach will prove unproductive. You need to interact with people and provide something of value, otherwise they will have no reason to pay attention to anything you say.

If you are primarily dealing with other businesses, it is probably best to focus your efforts on sites such as LinkedIn, which are geared towards professional networking. It’s not that Twitter and Facebook will necessarily prove unproductive for you. It is more that you are likely to get a better return on your time investment with something more business-oriented.

Business to consumer

Conversely, LinkedIn will be of less relevance if your main aim is to build your profile with the public. Using social media is about working out where your target market spends time online and then communicating with them there. As such, Twitter and Facebook are likely to be far better promotional outlets if you are primarily selling to the general public.

However, this is not the only way to speak to people. As mentioned previously, a successful social media strategy centres on building relationships and this means providing something of value. If you are providing a service of some kind, it is advisable to try and showcase your expertise.

Nothing builds your profile more quickly and effectively than coming to be considered an authority. Providing free advice online doesn’t mean undermining the need for your own business, it means building trust and raising your profile. You can provide advice via a blog or another very effective approach is to upload videos to YouTube dealing with common problems related to your industry. This is a particularly good option if your writing isn’t good enough or you feel you would come across well on camera.

In summary

Social media is not a faddy add-on to conventional approaches to building a business. It can sit right at the heart of your overall strategy and allow greater returns for the same amount of effort. The key is to actively engage with people to build genuine relationships. This has always been central to successful business and will remain so, even if the methodology has changed.

Blog supplied by Lee Jones of Sedulo, a Manchester-based firm of chartered accountants

When setting up a business it pays to limit your start-up costs. It’s reassuring to know there are affordable options for start-ups. Here are five ways you might be able to minimise your start-up costs, while still hitting the ground running…

1 Home from home

If your business is new, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to splash out on premium office space. Setting up a business from home has been made easier thanks to smart technology, super-fast broadband and the flexibility to work when you want. But when your four-year-old picks up the phone to your new client, it can end up costing you.

Entrepreneurs are now combining the flexibility of home working with the use of a local, managed workspace. This way they can benefit from a fully equipped office and meeting space as and when they need it.

2 Coffee shop temptation

When you first start out, you’re keen to follow any lead, and research we carried out suggests entrepreneurs would meet almost anywhere to secure a deal. When asked where the strangest places they’ve ever held a business meeting some of the weird and wonderful answers included the back of an ambulance, a navy warship and a cave! Coffee shops are a tempting meeting place, but negotiating while surrounded by talkative shoppers could prove tricky. Our research suggests 64% of business people would choose business centres over coffee shops when they need to be professional and productive.

3 First impressions last

When a prospective client contacts you, you must seize the opportunity. But important calls can come through to you when you’re queuing at the bank or boarding a plane. A ‘virtual’ receptionist is an independent contractor and more affordable than a member of staff. The receptionist, who’s often multilingual, will answer with your business name and can extend hours of availability so you never miss a business call again.

4 Be sociable

“Social media is to marketing as eye contact is to a handshake,” says social media guruMeg Fowler Tripp. Around 1.1bn people use Facebook every day and 200m go on Twitter, according to BuzzFeed. No new business owner would turn their nose up at free marketing, that’s why so many businesses now use social media channels to promote their products or services. But don’t ignore channels such Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube, particularly if your business has a visual aspect.

5 Secure your place in the den

Even some of today’s most successful entrepreneurs, such James Caan (formerly of Dragons’ Den), didn’t start out in their own office space. He, like many other new business owners, opted for a virtual office, complete with a virtual address.

This affordable solution is increasingly popular among start-ups, home-based businesses and companies expanding into new regions. It eliminates the expense of renting while offering a business presence. Providing you with a local business address and phone number, it’s a convenient stepping-stone to a physical office.

Having walked past a shop called Recession this morning, I was reminded yet again about the tough times that small firms continue to face. All the small-business owners I meet through my work as a coach are really busy. They tend to work much harder than their counterparts in the corporate world and are frequently more motivated, too. There’s so much involved in running your own business – and not many people to help.

Here are my top six tips on how to give your small business the best chance of surviving when times are tough.

1. Spend 30 minutes each day thinking

It seemed to work for Bill Gates. He’s reported to have spent one month every year thinking up ideas for his business. Yet in a survey of 4,000 UK businesses, 95% of small-business owners didn’t even have a business plan. Owners spend all their time working in the business, leaving no time to work on the business. But failure to plan, as time-management guru Alan Lakein said, is indeed planning to fail. It’s like setting off on a journey without knowing the eventual destination – fun, perhaps, but unlikely to be effective. Just half an hour a day spent thinking and making plans will enable you to focus on what’s really crucial to the business. Urgent isn’t necessarily the most important.

2. Actively manage your cashflow

Failure to manage cashflow kills more businesses than anything else. Cash is king when it comes to the financial management of a business. The lag between the time you have to pay your suppliers and employees and the time you collect from your customers is the problem – and the solution is effective cashflow management. This means delaying outflows of cash for as long as you can, while encouraging anyone who owes you money to pay it as soon as possible.

3. Know who your best customers are

A simple analysis of your customers can be enlightening. Who are most profitable/most rewarding to work with/have the most potential? It’s said to be five-times more profitable to spend time and money on retaining existing customers than it is to acquire new ones. Michael LeBoeuf’s book, How To Win Customers and Keep Them for Life, highlights the reasons why customers leave - 68% of them because of an attitude of indifference shown by the owner, manager or an employee. Given this, how valuable it is to fold your customers in a warm embrace and love them to death.

4. Use social media

Social media is no longer the preserve of teenagers. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a business that cannot benefit from using social media. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are now essential tools to connect with customers, prospects and suppliers. Your competitors are already using social media to boost awareness, enhance reputation and win business. If (like me) you didn’t know where to start, make it your business to find out more about using social media for business. It could bring you many more sales.

5. Keep calm and carry on marketing

It’s no coincidence that businesses that increase and hone their marketing spend in a recession are those that emerge strongest when recovery comes. Bill Gates (yep, him again) famously said that if he was down to his last dollar, he would spend it on marketing. Research has shown that companies that increase their marketing spend in a recession recover three-times faster when economic conditions normalise.

People don’t stop buying in a downturn, they just focus on value and “out of sight, out of mind” still holds true. Customers will notice if your brand falls silent and will smell failure. So set objectives, be clear about what you want your marketing to achieve, and measure the results. The more you know about your customers, the better you will be able to target them successfully by understanding their problems and presenting appropriate solutions.

The internet – and Google in particular – represent cost-effective platforms. Used properly, marketing has the power to stop a business being caught like a rabbit in the headlights.

6. Outsource

Many small-business owners try to do everything themselves, which is plainly daft. Even decathletes who train for years have events in which they perform better than others. No one can be a jack-of-all-trades.

How much better is it to defer to a bookkeeper or PR specialist than to attempt to muddle through yourself? It can be immensely liberating to free yourself up to do the parts of the job that are most rewarding or to which you are best suited. Leave the rest to people better qualified than you. Smart business-owners know when to outsource, delegate or automate. You will more than make up the money it costs you through focusing instead on getting more sales or developing product or service enhancements.

Twitter celebrated its seventh birthday on 21 March and, with an estimated 1.2 billion Twitter accounts now registered, 200 million active users and 400 million tweets sent each day, it is more important than ever that businesses have stringent social media policies in place.

With the majority of businesses using social media regularly as a tool for self-promotion, interaction with clients and even recruitment, it is easy to forget that potentially millions could read the message you are composing.

The law of defamation concerns the publishing of statements that harm the reputation or character of someone resulting from the false statements or actions of another, and it is crucial to remember that the law treats the online world much as it does the real world.

In other words, every tweet is potentially a fresh publication for defamation purposes, and anyone who tweets a defamatory statement could be held liable for damages. Businesses must be aware because every tweet sent from a work-linked account could attract vicarious liability.

Unfortunately, it does not stop there and even comments on personal accounts might bring a business into disrepute if they can be linked back, which also demonstrates how vital it is for employers to have clear policies and training in place to deal with social media activity.

The misuse of social media has also led to numerous publicised dismissals. A report obtained through the Freedom of Information Act found that 11 civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been sacked for misusing Facebook or Twitter since January 2009, while a further 105 employees have faced disciplinary action.

A social media policy should ideally include detailed information on what staff should and shouldn’t say and do on social media, privacy settings that need to be enacted, how to react to requests for references and what to do if an adverse comment is published.

Because of the nature of social media, it is very difficult to abolish the use of it altogether and this may well be counterproductive anyhow because it offers an abundance of benefits.

However, it has to be used correctly and appropriately if these benefits are to be seen. Therefore, when employees are encouraged to use social media as part of their job, employers are advised to have a ‘best practice’ guide available. Appointing a ‘social media’ officer or champion as a point of contact for those in doubt is also highly advised.

Crucially, once a social media policy is drawn up it is important that it is not simply locked away in the store cupboard and out of employees’ sight. It must be easily accessible and well publicised to ensure that all staff members are fully aware of their responsibilities when it comes to using social media.

Even if your resources are limited and social media isn’t a primary tool for your business, the costs of not being in control of it within your company are too big to be ignored.

As a business owner, you will know that to remain competitive within your market your business needs to grow. If you are not increasing your turnover and profits, you risk soon being overtaken by businesses that are.

Whether you prefer to remain a relatively small business or if you have the success of Richard Branson’s Virgin in mind, business growth will inevitably lead to hiring more staff. The importance of hiring top quality staff cannot be overestimated, because it can prove to be the difference between success, survival or failure.

Although many small businesses have never had or can no longer afford to have in-house HR departments, using external HR companies or HR software can provide a solution. However, if you decide to manage your HR matters, recruiting employees will be down to you, of course.

Along with more traditional recruitment strategies, today’s business owners are now turning to social media to hire top quality employees. If you are unsure how to do this, here are some tips.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn was established specifically with recruitment in mind. It not only enables job seekers and employees to promote their skills, education and experience online, but also acts as a business network and provides a way for like-minded professionals to contact and connect with one another.

If you or your business does not already have a presence on LinkedIn it is a good idea to set one up. Along with enabling you to network with fellow business owners, potential and existing customers, it will enable you to search for potential employees. Think of it as online dating for the corporate world, where you and job candidates can connect online before making the commitment to meet in person.

Twitter and Facebook

Don’t make the mistake of thinking Twitter and Facebook are just for teenagers or bored housewives. They are both very useful tools for promoting businesses and recruiting employees. Top quality employees want to work somewhere that offers more than just a great salary, they also want to work in supportive and enjoyable environments, too.

Facebook and Twitter provide a great chance to show your company’s personality to potential job candidates, who will likely be searching through your Facebook page and Tweets to find out more about your business. If your company has taken part in a charity event, held a team-building day or any other social events, promote it on your Facebook page, because it will show potential employees that your company can offer more than just a nine-to-five job.

On a practical level, Facebook and Twitter are ideal places to advertise jobs. If a vacancy becomes available, post it on Facebook with a link to how applicants can apply. Also Tweet about it and encourage staff to Retweet it on Twitter.

Growing trend

Use of Social media isn’t a fad – it continues to grow. Google+ has become the latest social media tool that combines LinkedIn with Facebook and enables users to create separate professional and personal networks in one place.

There are many business benefits to using social media and businesses have realised it is a perfect tool to enhance their recruitment efforts. The fact is, failing to use social media could put your business at a distinct disadvantage when seeking to hire top quality employees.

Lucy Cohen, co-owner of Mazuma (a national service specialising in providing monthly bookkeeping and accountancy services to small businesses and the self-employed), shares her advice on using social media for business.

1. 10 heads are better than one

“Ensure all staff have a vested interest in (or are aware of) your social media activities - making it part of regular business. You’ll be able to generate more content and ‘buy in’ from your staff when everyone is informed and involved.”

2. Be creative

“If you can’t be creative within the realm of digital media, where can you be creative? Use social media for fun yet professional communication with your audience/clients. Why not create an alternate personality for your business that your audience can speak to?”

3. Give what you get

“Use your social media channels for two-way communication. Some audiences, particularly younger people, prefer to communicate via this medium. Don’t be afraid to respond in the location where the conversation began.”

4. Be strategic

Have a strategy in place; know your objectives. You must know what you want your business to get out of your social media and online activities.”

5. Keep it open and honest

“There is always a risk that your online community will be exposed to negative comments about your organisation. Don’t ‘jump to delete’. Use criticisms as an opportunity to be open, transparent and honest with your audience.”

6. Get involved – whatever your business

Most, if not all, customers are engaging on these platforms online, they offer real potential to retain clients and meet new clients, whatever your business, get involved – or you may be left behind as technology advances.

Inspired by a post called Be Happy it’s Not Easy I read on Sarah Petty’s Joy marketing blog site, I wanted to share my thoughts with you about free marketing.

There is no shortage of experts who will tell you not to waste money on a website or smart brand identity – having you believe instead that social media will catapult your business to financial success alone. And there is probably no denying that somewhere out there, someone will have made their first million (probably selling info products) in spite of their “horror show” of a website. But they’re the exception, not the rule.

A powerful brand identity and website will attract the right sorts of client prepared to spend what you need to charge. It will differentiate you from your competitors and it will help you stay memorable. You can’t get that sort of design for free. To be honest, it doesn’t even come “cheap”. But the great news is, investing in marketing your business means your competitors can’t copy as easily as free marketing.

I’m not knocking free marketing. Social media is the lifeblood of my marketing activity – but only in conjunction with a range of activities. And it only works because I take myself seriously.

The problem of not being able to invest in your marketing because you’re not making any money is an age-old catch 22. I firmly believe that you need to invest in your business and get all of this right at the outset and the results will pay dividends. It’s all about being brave.

Ask yourself this: If I don’t believe enough in my business to invest in my brand identity and website, why should my clients?

“Things can happen all at once and little changes can make a huge difference” – Malcolm Gladwell

January was quite a month. In fact, it’s been my business’s (Manage My Website) busiest period since I started it two years ago.

The enquiries are coming in thick and fast – from the UK (where we’re based) and countries as far flung as the USA, Egypt and Holland. We’re working on websites for retailers, charities and even the NHS, plus we’re about to partner with MODA Commerce, one of the teams behind the Mary Portas website. My business is on the brink of exploding.

Some years ago I read a book by Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. As Gladwell explains, tipping points are: "The levels at which momentum for change becomes unstoppable."

So what’s led my business to this key stage? Lots of little things, really. They may have seemed insignificant at the time, but together they’ve created what we have become today and our business has reached its very own tipping point.

I was made redundant from my day job two years ago and decided to take a risk by going solo with my own web design and consultancy business.

I sourced talented suppliers and freelancers who I knew I could trust and work well with. My friends at Flipside Studio and Kinetic Pulse have been key to my business growth and reputation, although I now use several innovative designers and developers.

I decided to keep a journal on my website and updated right from the start, which is incredibly good for SEO. Try Googling “web design providers” and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m a social animal. I immediately set up Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages and worked hard at keeping them fresh and interesting, to build up a following and gain vital industry contacts and new clients.

I added my business to as many relevant web directories as possible (all free).

I emailed every one of my family and friends and enlisted their help in spreading the word about my business. Through this email, I won The Cherry Closet account.

With every new enquiry that came in I kept my quotes as competitive as possible to ensure we won the business, had the chance to prove how good a job we could do and help to build up a portfolio of happy customers and great work.

Our team established firm friendships with our clients and befriended them on Facebook. This wasn’t a calculated decision; it was natural progression; they are all open, lovely people. We also promote their businesses as much as we can on social media websites.

We earned a reputation for high-impact, well-built websites in niche markets.

I never waivered from my belief that customer service is everything. I have collected as many client testimonials as possible over the two years we’ve been in business.

Before starting my business, I hadn’t realised I could sell. But in my eyes, I’m not selling to potential clients, I’m just extremely passionate about what I do and that probably shines through.

Nobody can predict what’s around the corner, but I have a very good feeling about 2011. I hope I’ve inspired anyone thinking of branching out on their own that if you’re passionate about what you do, have the right skills and work incredibly hard, you’ll reach your own tipping point.

I run Splash Morocco, an adventure company and riad (small B&B) in Marrakech, Morocco. When a colleague told me Twitter was the future for web marketing I rolled my eyes, but I was prepared to hear him out. One year later, after giving it some time and effort, I'm forced to agree with him: Twitter rocks!

I use social media as a way of attracting clients, building contacts and providing free information to prospective travellers. The cost of using this medium? Absolutely nothing. The benefits? Several thousand pounds worth of bookings and all for the cost of some of my time each day.

I'm lucky that here in Marrakech, there aren't that many other businesses that are Tweeting on a regular basis, so slowly I'm developing into an authority on travel and information in the area. I use TweetDeck and have various search terms set up to allow me to filter through the myriad of information out there and capture the useful data I can directly respond to.

Tweets I love seeing are things like "Just booked my flights to Marrakech - anyone got any tips on things to do?" or "Looking for an adventure in Morocco". With these, I can send a speedy response speaking about the riad or the adventure activities and tours I offer. These vary from white water rafting, canyoning and quads to gentler sightseeing tours of the High Atlas Mountains.

Any business can use this as a method of not only sharing information about their products on the web, but also of directly interacting with their potential clients and even acting as a free information service, building trust and reputation amongst followers who otherwise may have never considered or found your business.

My jewellery-making business, Mama Jewels, is nearing the end of its first sixth month of trading, so I thought I’d share an update on our progress so far.

This week my youngest son had his first birthday and I had my first day off Twitter, Facebook and my laptop for as long as I can remember. It felt good to leave my iPhone in the drawer and go out for the day. He was three-months-old when I decided to start Mama Jewels and both my sons are very much part of the journey. I’m hoping to have them trained in jewellery-making very soon!

Very good things are happening all the time, but I am finding myself in a constant juggling act, having to work some very late nights and early mornings to keep up. Sales are increasing, but they’re still not at the levels I wanted at this stage. I keep hoping this will eventually improve.

Visits and online sales are rising steadily after the launch of our new website, which took three (very long) months to develop and even then it didn’t launch on the date planned or the revised date. If you’re planning to launch a new website, build in plenty of spare time, especially for setting up payment accounts, which took longer than I’d expected.

Mama Jewels is currently stocking in 11 online boutiques, which is steadily increasing as we follow up new leads each day. We also have three independent baby shops stocking our products offline. This number is still low, because my ability to make visits is very limited because of my childcare commitments. Over the next couple of weeks I’ve temporarily arranged some extra childcare so I can make more sales visits.

We’ve plenty of events planned coming up to Christmas, including home parties, markets and fairs in targeted areas. We’re starting to get approached by mum and toddler groups to exhibit directly, so word is getting out there, which is great.

I am currently working on improving my Ebay shop, too, which has proved very successful so far and I have approached a friend who is an expert on selling via Amazon.

Progress is good, with daily glimpses of new opportunities. Generally, consumers are feeling the pinch and they’re more cautious than ever. Hopefully, the upcoming season will give us that extra little boost and encourage shop owners to trial my products in a few more retail outlets before Christmas. We’ll see.

Recently, I spoke to Claudia Kapp of Deadly is the Female, a customer of my business, to learn about her experiences of social media marketing.

Deadly is the Female is a Frome-based boutique and web shop specialising in fabulous quality faux vintage fashion from head to toe. Both in store and online, the shopping experience is designed to make their customers feel like old-time Hollywood starlets.

Claudia has been using social networking websites since opening her shop in November 2008.

“We started out with a MySpace page,” she remembers, “which was the site with which I was most familiar, but I soon realised many of our followers were more focused on Facebook. We now mainly use Facebook and Blogger with some Twitter on the side.

“We try to find a balance between updating regularly and bombarding people to the point of irritation. Generally, we post something on Facebook every day and on Twitter a couple of times a week.”

Do she have any good social media tips? “I find it useful to follow other people with similar businesses and learn from them. This is easiest when they do things that are annoying. I hate getting slight variations of the same picture posted again and again, so don’t do that. Try to keep things fresh and don’t focus on selling all the time, a little bit of personal stuff is a good thing, too.”

Claudia recently started using Google Analytics, to find out more about site usage. “You wouldn’t ever guess some of the keywords that lead people to your site. Occasionally, we’ll run Facebook exclusive sales, too - which is a great way to see if people are paying attention.

“Social networking is a great way to connect directly with your customers. You can ask opinions or for help and advertise events. It’s also useful for keeping an eye on trends and gauging popular opinion, which even in a niche market has an impact.”

She says her favourite thing about Facebook is the variety of ways it can be used and how visible everything is. “You can make people feel involved by tagging them. Twitter is great for short, sharp information sharing. I feel less comfortable with Twitter, but I’m still learning.

“Social networking can be quite time-consuming but it’s worthwhile. The instant feedback and volume of information shared is like nothing else and it can help with making important day-to-day business decisions. I sometimes still feel a bit silly typing my thoughts out and sending them out into the unknown, but it’s worth it.”

And if Claudia could only use one social networking site? “It would be Facebook,” she replies. “It’s so easy to add attractive links to specific pages of the website as well as endless photos, videos and just about anything you can think of. You can have your own identity without the clutter of some MySpace pages and you can make people feel part of your brand. Using social media for business marketing takes time and practice to find out what works, but my advice is stick with it and stay positive,” she concludes.

Recently, I spoke to Nicki Grainger of The Cherry Closet, a customer of my business, to find out about her experiences of social media marketing.

Nicki started her online vintage boutique a year ago on the back of her career spent in fashion journalism, women’s magazines and websites. Having always loved clothing with a sense of history and fancy dress, she started sourcing unique and charismatic vintage items from the UK, America and Europe.

Nicki says: “The boutique is all about style-savvy women having fun experimenting with fashion, encouraging eco-friendly shopping and preserving a piece of the past in their own individual way.”

“I try to update Twitter daily – if not every other day – and Facebook, on average, once or twice a week. I used to blog every day, but time constraints now mean I can only manage once or twice a week. The MySpace page is pretty static, and I update Flickr every month or so with new stock images.

Does she have any tips for successful use of social media for business? “Keep at it!” she replies, “You have to do regular updates to maintain interest.Be creative – think outside the box. We only just started posting pictures of celebrity outfits and finding the vintage equivalent on our website.Also,link, link and link some more. Promote other people who promote you, tag photos, mention names and use content that will engage.You’ve also got to usesocial media channels differently. Facebook and Twitter are two very different tools, so try and use them both to their full potential.

To measure traffic,Nicki has Google Analytics installed on her boutique website so she can see who is coming from where. She adds: “Facebook emails me weekly stats on how many fans my page has and comments made; Blogger has a 'followers' tool and I get a lot of messages through Twitter and my website from people via social media.”

Social media has also enabled Nicki to more conveniently gather customer feedback on her products and website, which is crucial for an online shop that can’t interact with customers face to face. Her business profile has also been raised. She says: “Our recent video and feature for GLAMOUR magazine actually came from Twitter. I took the time to help a girl out with something for her university fashion course, and she was in the right place at the right time to recommend us directly to the magazine.”

Does she think social networking is worth the time she spends on it? “Yes I do. Social media is essential for modern marketing - especially when you’re primarily an Internet-based business such as ours. You rely solely on getting those clicks and getting your brand out there and social media is hands down the best way to achieve this. By listening to what customers and people online are saying about your business and your brand, you will only improve your service. My only regret is that I wish I had more time to dedicate to it, because it can be so time consuming - but so worth it!”

If she could only use one social networking site, which would it be? “A very tight contest, blogs second only to Facebook. As much success as Twitter has bought me, whatever you tweet feels so momentary. Also, you can’t represent who you really are and what you’re about in 140 characters and I like having more creative control over social media. Facebook allows this and also reaches out to a wider audience. Some of our fans are 16, while some are 60.

“Facebook is more recognised channel, whereas many people I know still don't understand Twitter. Facebook is the easiest site to get people engaged because your updates land in their own personal feed, keeping your presence known, without being intrusive. You can combine links, photos, feedback and status updates plus receive comments all in one place - which is why I think it’s best.”

Without a doubt, contributing to a blog requires commitment and time if it is to produce effective results. However, making use of blogs is an easy, fast, inexpensive and effective publishing tool to spread the word about a new business, generate customers and increase prospects.

Blogs are corporate tools that allow businesses to communicate with the public to provide information about products and services being provided. To be effective as an advertising tool, the blog should be linked to the company website and provide relevant web content about the company’s products to attract prospective customers. To grow a blog, it should be updated consistently in order to include new and ongoing entries. Investing in blog advertising is a rewarding endeavour but it needs to be sustained in the long term.

Blogs provide the following four key benefits when promoting a business:

1 An effective platform for content marketing

Content marketing is a method of promotion designed to attract customers by providing valuable content about the business, products and services that it offers. Rather than being a brazen and overt marketing strategy, content marketing takes the form of publishing content that delivers information through important articles, press releases and news feeds. This approach treats established and potential customers as intelligent individuals. Content marketing provides accurate, honest and relevant information that consumers need to know before purchasing products and services. There is no better place for content marketing than on a blog.

Selecting and streamlining news feeds from credible industry news sources and linking them to blogs will keep interested readers returning to blog pages on a regular basis. It also prompts viewers to return to the blog for news updates which secures repeat viewers and potential customers. It is best to integrate a credible news feed with other non-competitive website links which subtly promote and advertise the business. Adding neutral, industry relevant, and credible news feeds and web content allows the business to present itself as a knowledgeable and accurate source of information in its respective market.

2 Low-cost advertising methods

Setting up a blog on Wordpress, Gizmodo, and Compendium is a free alternative to having actual web presence. Blogs can be linked to other social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, to attract potential clients. Blogs provide an effective way for small businesses to share their expertise and offer press releases in a larger market to bigger audiences. They are user-friendly tools especially for business owners who know little about HTML.

3 Input from customers

Setting up blogs with opportunities to moderate and answer questions and comments from clients presents a human face of an enterprise and allows a business to speak directly with clients and address their concerns. No company can expect to be an industry leader without an authentic and ongoing interaction with its customers.

4 Search engine magnet

Blogs are search engine magnets, directing not only curious bloggers to business landing pages, but also regular and targeted traffic from Google searches. Search engines crawl content and keyword rich blog sites, bringing the blog (and business landing page) closer to the top of page ranks.

When composing blogs, be sure to make your contact information clear and make navigation easy to help convert views to sales.

I have heard time and again thata business like mine needs a face. Well, the worrying thing is...whose face would it be? I guess it would have to be mine!

Now that I’mbreaking even and orders are steadily increasing, I need to look at how I can promote the message that I want to shout about: about how amazing Mexican food is. I don’t want to preach about it, I just want to share recipes, mouth-watering ideas for creating food and drink to impress your friends, and a bit of the history and the nutritional properties.

And there is some absolutely fantastic news for the cuisine: UNESCO, the branch of the United Nations that is best known for its list of World Heritage Sites, has just awarded the Mexican cuisine the very prestigious status of “intangible cultural patrimony” along with Chinese cuisine. The French cuisine has been turned down twice.

The superior methods and ingredients used to prepare traditional food such as Mole sauce tamales and salsas are a sharp contrast with the processed cheese and sour cream-covered nachos and cardboard-like hard-shell tacos that many people outside the country typically confuse as Mexican food. I would love to inspire foodies to try a variety of new recipes and ingredients.

Not being such an internet whiz, I will need lots of advice to use the internet era to inspire the foodies who want to try new things. Your suggestions will be welcome.

Add your ideas for Marcela to the comments section.

You can find out more about Marcela on the new interactive business website www.inafishbowl.com

Being a mum can be challenging, being a business woman can be challenging too. Trying to do both at once can be mind-boggling. I fight shy of the term mumpreneur, but if it suits you, then that's what I am. I run my small business from home and I am also full-time mum to two pre-schoolers.

I always swore I wouldn't and couldn't run a business, house and family at once and I was right, something had to give and sadly that was housework! If inspiration strikes but you think circumstances prevent you from acting on it, then ignore your head and go with your heart. Running your own business is a rewarding, fun, busy add-on to family life and just the challenge my poor nappy-brain needed. So a few tips if you fancy joining me on a self-employed mum adventure:

Plan, plan and plan some more. Time will be the biggest constraint on your business, so make sure you make the most of every bit of time you have. All of the usual business management tools work well: to-do lists, diary systems, electronic reminders. I've always preferred telephone contact to email, but am finding email works better for me now. It's off your to do list, even if the person at the other end can't help you there and then.

If you are house proud then don't do it! There are not enough hours in the day to do everything and your business and family should come first. If you can't sit and work at the kitchen table whilst stoically ignoring the pile of laundry and washing-up then this isn't for you. Ignore the chores and don't feel guilty, if you've got one get your other half to step up his cleaning contribution.

Set targets for the day. Aim to actually complete one task a day, that way you will feel that you are progressing your business plan.

Keep special family time. Make sure you set aside time in the day that is just for you and the children, no interruptions. Or you'll get to the end of the day feeling that you've done neither job well.

Use TV wisely. DD2 still has a nap but DD1 conveniently gave hers up as I launched the business. We now have quiet time, no TV during the rest of the day (hopefully) but she watches for a chunk in the middle of the day while I crack on. Don't be worried about using the TV to help, all children watch TV, use it wisely to get the most done.

Don't underestimate the power of social media. It allows you to network quickly and cheaply from home, even if there is chaos all around you. Keep your laptop open and logged on and then you can pop in when you have five minutes.

Make time for yourself. You will inevitably do most of your work after their bedtime, but make sure there is time in the week for you to do something for yourself: gym trip, coffee and cake out, stroll around the block, whatever. If you don't, you risk burn out and then you are no use to anyone.

When starting a business it is difficult to put aside an amount for marketing and it’s hard to justify how much should be spent.

When I started my business Rentabuggy.co.uk in 2008 I spent a couple of thousand pounds on marketing within the first six months but was surprised to find that I didn’t get many results from it. Here are my top five tips for advertising on a low budget.

Network. Networking is free and many businesses are becoming more involved. Networking is a great way to work with like minded businesses on a like for like basis. Shortly after setting up my own company, I set up another company with my business partner called Networking Mummies Dorset and we now have over 150 businesses involved. We share knowledge, advice and advertising and I now use this as my main stream for advertising my own business.

Press release. If you have a newsworthy story involving your business then write a press release. Press releases are a great way to showcase some exciting information you may have with the media. Make a list of local newspapers, radio stations and magazines within your sector and email them. Always write the press release in the body of the email as well as attaching it as a document. For great tips on writing a press release check out www.mumsclub.co.uk.

Reciprocal links. Research businesses on the internet that are in the same sector as you and email them to ask if they would like to do a ‘reciprocal’ link. This means you add a link to your website with their information and vice versa. This is a good way to try increasing traffic to your website.

Facebook. Facebook was originally launched as a social media portal for friends to stay in touch but has since become a great way to advertise your business. Set up a fan page and invite all your friends. Hopefully, they will then request their friends to join and so on.

Blog. Blogging is a great way to keep your customers updated with news, offers and more. You don’t have to be a great writer to write a blog and this can be kept simple. Linking with other companies will help your search engine results too.

I do love the support and compliments I get from my fellow mums. I am regularly asked: “How do you fit it all in – not just one child, but a baby and then your business?”.

There is no real secret to it. But this is how I manage:

1) Firstly motivation – without motivation, there is no way you will fit it all in. If you are motivated, then things do become much easier. This is what motivates me:

For starters, I only do what I love – I frequently refer to my business as a “hobby business” – it is a hobby for me and I enjoy what I do. If I didn’t enjoy it, then there would be little motivation.

Personally, I need something other than just the kids. I love my kids to bits, but come on – playing puzzles all day or dealing with another tantrum only gets you so far. Baking cakes is fun, but someone has to eat them all and I really do not want to go up two dress sizes.

At work you regularly get feedback – being at home with the kids, you don’t really – you don’t get a project review or an annual review, you don’t get a buzz from a presentation that you've done well. Nobody says: "Wow, you did ALL that washing this week!" or "well done for cooking all those meals" or "ten tantrums today? Good on you". Every time I sell something, it is like getting a little pat on the back – well done me!

2) There is, of course, time management:

There is a lot to be said for “do it now” – today I had a choice: nap or write this post. I chose to write the post.

Write lists/ diary notes of what needs to get done – always look at the whole list and prioritise – that way you a) don’t forget anything and b) you soon discover what is important. Some things have been on my list for months – I see them and I don’t do them as I have other things to do first.

Cause and effect/ timelines. Think ahead. For example, I want my alphabet book done by Christmas so that Red Ted can start reading it before he is three (Feb 2011). Working back it means I need to do xx now and then yy.

Routine – this is a very important factor for us. My children know that I need half an hour or so at the computer in the morning, they also both (still) nap at lunchtime – giving me one-two hours of me time. Red Ted is also in nursery one day a week and I dedicate this to Red Ted Art and Pip Squeak (who still naps three times a day), I avoid doing “mummy” things like playdates, as it is work time.

Now that Pip Squeak is here (she is 3.5 mths old) I have lowered my expectations as to what I can achieve as she needs more cuddles and holding than Red Ted needs at two years old.

I have shifted my focus from going out and visiting shops to sell my cards/ paintings for me, to networking online, which you can do when you have five minutes here or there. When Pip Squeak is older, I will shift my focus again to something else.

Painting is limited to a little in the evenings (I can’t paint when it is too dark) and the weekends – so I currently sell less.

I was recently asked if I ever sleep – you know what – I do! I sleep more than my peers, almost eight to nine hours a night (with interruptions from the baby, of course) and I do read too – probably one book a week. So the tips above do work. Honest.

The key is probably to find something you love and the rest will follow naturally.

Small Business 2.0 was held on Saturday 23 January. Now in its second year, it’s an event dedicated to helping small businesses profit from the web. Emma Jones went along and picked up some useful nuggets.

Business at the weekend

One of the reasons I like the Small Business 2.0 event is that it’s held on Saturday. Not only does this mean it’s accessible to 5 to 9ers (those holding down a day job and building the business at nights and weekends) it also means there’s a relaxed feeling about the place as attendees listen, learn, and meet new people in an informal setting.

These ingredients came together well on Saturday and were the recipe for an interesting and enjoyable day. Here are a few things I picked up:

A bit of trivia – the first item ever sold on eBay UK was a Scorpions CD at the price of £2.89.

eBay has more than 17 million monthly unique visitors and offers more than 15 million items for sale. There are 123,000 full time eBay businesses, generating more than £1.7 billion per year in turnover. To date, $600million worth of business has been driven through the eBay iPhone application. The company expect this to become an even more popular way to shop.

E-commerce continues to climb: the numbers of people shopping online – and the amounts they are spending – is increasing at a rapid rate. So it’s still a very good time to be starting an online trading business.

Customers are becoming more demanding: the majority of customers expect their online shopping experience to be as good as, if not better, than an offline shopping experience, placing the onus on the store owner to make it as simple and enjoyable as possible.

The secrets to success in creating a successful online venture can be summed up as having: Great products, Competitive prices, Outstanding service, Giving something back.

(eBay report that even though sellers participating in eBay for charity give 10 per cent of the sales price to charity, their products are 20 per cent more likely to sell, at a better price. This resulted in $50 million being raised for charity in 2009).

Enterprise is alive and well: I met a number of people in the early stages of starting a business, from Domino Duhan who is soon to launch Flog.com as a place to create a free online store, to Steven and Zoe who travelled from Worcestershire to pick up tips for their new venture selling cottage gifts.

Altogether, there was a great vibe and positive signs that 2010 will be another exciting year for anyone starting and growing an online business.

Emma Jones is the founder of Enterprise Nation and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’. Her next book ‘Working 5 to 9 – how to start a business in your spare time’ will be published in May 2010.

Start up business owners absolutely can’t ignore the opportunities that are available online to market their small business. As great an opportunity as there is, it’s also a pretty daunting task for a new business – especially if you’re not an expert in getting attention on the web. The good news is, keeping it simple is one of the best ways you can ensure that your website is ticking all of the boxes and serving the purpose it needs to for potential customers or business partners.

Stefan Tornquist, Research Director of Marketing Sherpa, talks about improving your search rankings organically through relevant website content. As a small business owner, how easy do you find it to write copy and articles for your business? Is it something you can do yourself, or do you prefer to outsource this job?

For many of us new to social networking and closer to being within Gen X than Gen Y, it takes considerable time to learn the rules and etiquette of social media. And to be honest, many of those rules are only just developing now. As Penny Power explains in this video, we really can learn a lot from the younger generation about being open, random and supportive on social networks, rather than broadcasting our wants and needs to friends online.

Have you taken time to learn from young people around you? They might be able to help you fast track your business.

On social networks, it’s tempting to try and grow your network rapidly by accepting any friend requests that come your way and building a network of strangers. As Louis Gray explains, when thinking about business networking; revenue is only going to come from a small selection of your online community. For that reason, building a network of highly engaged people with whom you have a genuine connection can prove to be a great way to unlock business opportunities.

It’s easy to judge someone’s social media “usefulness” on their number of friends or followers, or assume that low numbers equates to a small and relatively useless network. But it might be sensible to start slowly and focus on quality. What do you think?

So you're starting a business? There's plenty to think about, and you'll be spinning lots of plates all at once. But one thing you should really have lined up is a smart social strategy. What does that mean? Hear what Louis Gray had to say on a recent trip to London...

Our clients, and most people we've met and talks and events recently, have asked the same question: Is social media appropriate for business-to-business marketing? Unequivocally, the answer is YES. In the last year, 40% of Clear Thought's revenue can be tracked back to a social media source, and 100% has been enhanced or aided by it in some way. In the last six weeks alone, here are some things that Clear Thinkers have achieved through social media:

Hooked up two people met through Twitter with paying B2B clients.

Received two good quality new business enquiries, both of which are now at proposal stage.

Sourced experts willing to talk to us about their business as part of market research projects.

In B2B decision-making or considered purchases, social media has most impact in the top half of the sales funnel

From a new business perspective, social media has critical impact in the first three stages of the sales funnel. That is, Awareness, Interest and Evaluation. From a social media perspective, you need to do the following: To generate awareness: 'Be There' find out where your prospects hang out online and have a presence there. To convert awareness in the interest: 'Be Relevant ' provide information that is useful or controversial to pull people into your content. To make it through evaluation: 'Be Proven' provide case study and testimonials at every turn online, ideally with other people talking on your behalf. To really make the most of the channel, it makes sense to get some expert support - particularly in measuring and enhancing your activity. But, here are some really simple things to get you started. 10 FREE things you can do to generate awareness online:

Note: In this blog, we're focusing specifically on lead generation. It is worth noting (and blogging in the future) that social media can be powerfully used in market research, recruitment, lead nurturing and much more. You might also be interested in:

The growth in the use of the Internet in recent years has led to a huge shift in marketing activities to the online space. This article explains some of the key things for you to focus on to help you market effectively online. Secure that domain name early. The natural starting point is the creation of a website. Once you start your business it is important to secure the domain name in the markets you intend to compete in. We at Palo Alto Software, Inc and Palo Alto Software Ltd have lots of domain names ranging from PaloAlto.com (global), PaloAlto.co.uk (U.K.), and PaloAlto.ie (Ireland). These help ensure that prospective customers can find us easily by typing our name directly into a Web browser.

There are numerous ways you can build a website, from doing it yourself using available software tools, to hiring website specialists. Regardless of the method chosen you need to be completely clear on the main purpose of the website. Is it to sell products or to generate leads? Once the primary purpose is clear, you can then decide on the layout, alongside the look and feel.

Ensure your website is optimised

Given the hundreds of thousands of websites out there, it is worth reviewing a number to get a feel for the type of design and user interface you would like. Finally, when it comes to a website it needs to be ‘search-engine friendly’. This means that searches initiated from the likes of Google (using repetitive software, called ‘bots’) can find your site, scan it and identify the keywords associated with the website. Many firms offer Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services which are designed to help you achieve high rankings on the search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google. Most of the techniques they employ are widely known so you could choose to do it yourself. However, be aware: anyone promising top place listings on Google should be treated with caution. There are techniques (so-called black hat techniques) which can be used to game the system – however, Google has been known to punish sites known to be using such techniques, as BMW® found, to its cost, when Google delisted them in 2006.

As it takes time for a new website to get indexed by the search engines, it is likely that traffic will be low at the start. New sites tend not to feature in organic search returns for some time, but there are ways to drive traffic to your site using some of the methods described below.

Use Web analytics to improve your site

Once you have set up the domain name and site, you will want to understand how many users you are attracting, where they are coming from and how they are behaving on your site. Google Analytics is the most popular tool to manage this. It is available free from Google, easy to implement and even easier to use. If you want to see where people are going on your site, tools such as Crazy Egg® will help you improve the design of your site by showing you where people are clicking and where they are not.

Once the basics are in place it is now a case of creating awareness of the existence of your site and generating traffic to the site.

Get traffic to your site on day one

The quickest way to get traffic to a website is signing up for Google AdWords’ Pay-per-click (PPC) service. In the U.K. the vast majority of Web searches are via Google so this is the best one to focus on. This service lets you create adverts that appear when people search for certain keywords. You then pay according to each click you receive (hence the name ‘Pay-per click’). The main attraction with this option is that it is a highly targeted form of advertising, and you only pay when the prospect clicks on your advert and lands on your website.

Create unique landing pages

You need to decide where you want to bring the prospect when they click. Dropping users onto a homepage can be confusing, so you need to create a number of landing pages that are highly relevant to both the search term and the AdWord copy. For example, if a user searches for ‘marketing plan’ and the advertising copy is for Marketing Plan Pro® then the landing page needs to feature Marketing Plan Pro prominently. The beauty of running Analytics in the background is that you can measure conversions so you can identify which combinations of advert copy and landing pages are the most successful. After that it’s a case of testing, testing and more testing. A/B testing is a popular method where 50% of the audience is randomly assigned to see page A, and 50% to see page B. Whichever page results in the most conversions ‘wins’ and that then becomes the new default page.

Get websites to link to you

One well-known component of the Google algorithm that decides on the attractiveness of your website (which then correlates to a higher search ranking) is the number of back links to your site. The more sites that link to your website, the better, particularly if the linking site is an academic or government-owned site. Each link is considered a ‘vote’ and votes from impartial sites such as academic ones are deemed to carry more weight.

Seek a presence on high-traffic sites

It may be possible for you to feature on larger portal sites by offering to support them with either new or fresh content or special offers. Steer clear of anyone offering you a tenancy agreement, e.g. you pay £1,000 per month to feature on a third-party website. These offers mean you bear all the risk and they rarely, if ever, deliver any meaningful traffic. Similarly, spending money on banners and buttons is not in vogue like it used to be – for good reason. PPC marketing is where your budget should be going – not on risky placements on websites.

Blogging is not all it’s cut out to be

A number of companies set up blogs to enable them to communicate with interested parties and customers on a more informal basis. Blogs are simply basic websites which contain a list of posts or news stories by an author, typically about a specialist topic. While they are easy to set up and maintain, they do place a demand on the blog owner or blogger to constantly update them. If you do not think you have the time to post news stories daily it is probably best to avoid the temptation of creating a blog. Other, less demanding forms of social media include placing comments on forums and participating in news groups.

The above activities should give you a flavour of some of the types of marketing activities you can undertake online. Others, such as issuing online press releases and creating newsletters, can also help you drive traffic to your websites. From there it’s a case of ensuring the design and offer are compelling enough to entice the user to buy from you, assuming that is the primary purpose of your website.